Contract termination fee - What does the law say?

[super]

Hello,

I am finishing my 9th month in the apartment but found another job overseas and will be leaving Taiwan very soon.

I checked the contract to see the termination clause and it states a penalty of 2 months.

All my taiwanese friends are telling me that a 2 months penalty is too much, and that usually it is 1 month.

Some people even mentioned that the law states 1 month... so... I was wondering what does the law say?

I'm not looking to skip the penalty, I understand the situation for the landlord, but I think I should not be paying more than what is rightully requested by the law.

Any comments/ideas/suggestions?

Thanks and regards!

[finley]

Yeah, 1 month is the norm (i.e., your deposit) but if you agreed 2 months in your contract, then it's 2 months ... that's the whole point of a contract. I'm pretty certain Taiwan doesn't have any equivalent notion of US/British "unfair contract" laws and I doubt it would apply anyway.

I've had one or two landlords try this on, I guess they think foreigners are going to disappear without warning (and I'm sure some do).

On the other hand, if you were to find a new tenant to take over, your landlord might be a lot more understanding. Depends if he's a decent person I spose.

[super]

Thank you Finley!

I hope I can discuss this over with my landlord and come out with a good agreement for both

Regards!

[BigPrem886]

A bit of a problem.. been living in a rather nice apartment for close to two years..
the apartment has a central air conditioning unit.. that is very old(at least 10-15 years).
the air con breaks down when ever possible and as you might guess it breaks down during the summer months the most.
I've repeatedly asked the land lord to fix it.. and up till recently she has always agreed to pay and fix the air con.. now she wants us (tenants) to pay for it..
Mind you that the air con repair man, plus us, and everybody involved has said that it needs to be replaced. She refuses to acknowledge this fact and instead says she would fix it one last time then it will be our(tenant) responsibility to pay for any repairs. needless to say we refused..
and our now moving out. I have looked over my contract with a taiwanese friend, and our contracts say that she can take the whole deposit(two months rent). Is this true? Can we fight her on this? Do we have a leg to stand on, or will we just have to bend over on this one? please help asap.
thanks